Playtime

Playtime

I have "10,612 second degree friends", says Friendster. Sure, I may know 50 of them, but how about the other 10,562? Should they be called friends, or just connections?
According to the dictionary, a friend is (1) A person you know well and regard with affection and trust, (2) An associate who provides assistance, and (3) A person with whom you are acquainted.
Those 10,562 people don't fit in any of the three descriptions, but they have a strong possibility of becoming your friends since you know someone who knows them.
I think I met four of those 10,562 earlier.

After I went to the doctor (I have a two-week-old cough and a clogged right ear), I went to Xyber Bowl, the PSBA hang-out, and met RB and four of his PSBA barkada. We first played a doubles eight-ball.

Unfortunately, I didn't have my magical black billiard glove (can't find it) and had to settle with my black & white one. (The black one held the long winning streak against Migs)

RB & I lost 3-0, in pretty close matches. I could blame everything --- home court advantage, two-week billiard lay-off, bad luck, etc, but I was having fun, no Earl Strickland mode needed.

Later, I played one-on-one nine-ball with Timmy from PSBA. The rules: A match is a race to 3. He was pretty good, considering that in our first match, he beat me 3-0. I might've found a better player than I am. There goes my Motolite 9-ball tournament dreams =p

In our second match, I jumped ahead, 2-0, with the second game ending in a long nine-ball bank shot. However, his more enhanced skills caught up to me as he treated me to a safety after safety. He also knew how to place the ball, and what spin to use. He could put follow or draw with ease. Before I knew it, the score was 2-all. In the final, do-or-die rack, I pocketed the seven and the eight ball, but I missed an easy nine. I thought it was over, but when he took a shot, the nine rattled out. I sealed the victory with a difficult long cut shot.

And all those game for less than a hundred bucks. Sweet.

I went home afterwards with RB tagging along. Jen texted me on my way home to call her, and so I did. After talking about her site, invitations to summer things and a friend, RB & I played NBA 2K4.

I picked Houston, he picked Orlando (post 2002 season teams, pre 2003). My hands were confused at first due to the fact that I've been playing NBA Live 2004 lately. The game was pretty close in the first three quarters as the lead kept on changing. However, in the fourth quarter, with Yao leading the way, Houston cruised to a ten-point victory.

In our second game, he told me to pick West All-Stars, and he picked the East. This game showed why the West is more dominant than the East. With Yao leading with 18 points, 7 blocks and 7 rebounds, Bryant with 16, and Shaq with 12 and 6 blocks, the West stomped a 40-point victory over the East. West, all-in-all, had 31 assists as opposed to the East's 15.

Who gets in the West?

Here is the list of the teams vying for that eighth spot, and their upcoming games.

Denver (8th)
1. SEA, 2. UTA, 3. SEA, 4. HOU, 5. PHO, 6. HOU, 7. POR, 8. SAC, 9. SA

Utah (9th [0.5 games])
1. DEN, 2. LAL, 3. NO, 4. SA, 5. LAC, 6. MEM, 7. DAL, 8. HOU, 9. MIN, 10. PHO

Portland (10th [1.0 games behind 8th])
1. SEA, 2. NY, 3. BOS, 4. PHI, 5. NO, 6. LAL, 7. GS, 8. SA, 9. DEN, 10. SA, 11. LAL

Denver -- If they could get by with two wins against Seattle, a win in Pho and a win against Utah and Portland, and at least one win in a HOU, SAC or SA game, they will enter the playoffs.
Utah --- See that LAL, SA, MEM, DAL, HOU, MIN craze? That's 6 strong teams out of nine. If they could stuff Denver out (if Sea beats Den, Uta and Den would be tied), grab the east victories and at least two out of the six, they could reach 8th, but would need a lot of prayers that Den and Por would collapse.
Portland --- With 5 games from the east (and most are star player teams [shut down the star, they'll fall]), they might have an easier time entering, and that Denver vs Portland could be crucial down the stretch.

Might be Denver vs Portland for 8th, with Portland's two extra games (SA and LAL), crucial.

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MaMILOsopiya muna tayo:

Ang katanungan natin ngayon ay ganito: "Masasabi mo ba na hindi ako ang ako ngayon?"

Kung titingnan nga natin, maaaring totoo nga na hindi ikaw ang ikaw ngayon. Paano mo nga masasabi na ikaw ang pinaka-ikaw ngayon? Ikaw ba ang namili kung saan ka ipinanganak, ano ang magiging rehilyon mo, at marami pang iba? Hindi ba sumusunod ka lamang sa mga batas ng iyong bansa/paaralan/pamilya kahit labag sa kalooban mo? Malakas ang impluwensya ng lipunan sa isang tao na tila hindi na talaga siya iyon kundi isa lamang papet na kontrolado ng mundong kanyang kinalalakihan? Ginagawa mo ba iyong aksyon na iyan dahil ikaw ang gustong gumawa, o dahil sinabihan, pinilit ka ng iba? Ang iba, nagiging rebelde upang lumaban sa kontrol ng lipunan sa kanila at mapakita ang tunay nilang sarili, ngunit hindi kaya baliktad, na pinuwersa ka ng lipunan na maging rebelde? May maituturo ka bang isang gawain, pangyayari na masasabi mong ikaw, at ikaw lamang ang makakagawa, isang aksyon na sumisigaw na ikaw iyon, at hindi ibang tao?

Ngunit, gaya ng paghubog ng lipunan sa iyo, hinuhubog mo rin ang lipunan. May tulong, pananagutan lamang na ikaw lamang ang makakagawa sa puntong iyon. May kalayaan ka pa rin sa pagdaloy ng isip mo. Maaaring may mga tao na maglagay ng ibang ideya sa isipan mo, ngunit may kakayahan ka pa ring bumuo ng iba, o baguhin ang kanilang ideya. Hindi ka kailanman makakahatak ng isang tao sa lipunan at ituro na siya ang nagkontrol sa akin na gawin iyon, na siya ang nagsasabi sa akin na maging perpekto, o luko-loko. (Wag niyo ipapasok ang mga kaso ng mental dito) Kahit na may nakatutok sa iyong baril at pinupuwersa ka na pindutin ang buton na magpapasabog sa kabilang gusali na may isang daang tao upang mailigtas ka lamang, may pagpili pa rin. At kung anuman ang pagpiling iyon, ikaw, at ikaw lamang ang makakagawa noon, kung ano ang mga hakbang, daloy atbp.

Maaaring pagkalipas ng dalawampung-taon at binalikan mo ang mga pinaggagawa mo noong ika'y bata pa, maaari mong sabihin na hindi ako iyon, ngunit, kahit ayaw mong tangappin, ikaw pa rin iyon. Maaaring iba iyong dati mo sa ngayon mo, ngunit, ikaw pa rin iyon. Oo nga at hindi ka mabubuhay na isang daang porsyentong pinaka-ikaw, ngunit maililista mo nga ba sa isang papel kung ano ang tunay na ikaw, ang pinaka-ikaw? Subalit, tanyag ka pa rin, ikaw pa rin iyan kahit minsan nasusuway tayo ng iba. Konektado ka sa iba dahil pareho kayong meron, ngunit iba pa rin ang pagmemeron mo sa iba.

Tapusin na lang natin ito sa pamamagitan ng isang pangungusap na ito: "Hindi maaaring isulat o bigkasin ang tunay mong pangalan; maaari lamang itong isabuhay."

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Ok, that's all. Back to creating/remodeling websites (my blog was the first site) and writing lit!